Joyce Lipscomb talks about the hit and run accident that happened to her in 1989 in White Plains, N.Y. / Mark Vergari, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News

by Theresa Juva-Brown, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News

by Theresa Juva-Brown, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Joyce Lipscomb's life has been trapped by one tragic moment that occurred on a rainy evening nearly 25 years ago.

On March 3, 1989, Lipscomb, then a 24-year-old college student, was crossing Tarrytown Road in White Plains when she was struck and thrown by a car. As Lipscomb was laying on the pavement with a fractured skull, the driver got out of her car and told witnesses she hadn't seen Lipscomb before striking her. Then she drove away.

She has never come forward.

"How this lady did this, I will never know," said Lipscomb, who suffered permanent brain damage and had to learn to walk and talk again. "She hit me like I was an animal or something. And she just left without knowing if I was living or dead."

In 2011, 4,432 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes nationwide, with about one in five of them victims of a hit and run, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Drivers who flee - they may panic or fear being caught intoxicated or without a valid license - can leave authorities with few clues. Lack of physical evidence, witnesses or nearby traffic cameras tend to make hit-and-run cases difficult to solve, law enforcement officials say.

In addition, investigators face a ticking clock. In New York, felony charges such as leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident involving a death or serious injury typically must be filed against drivers within five years of an incident, in keeping with the state's statute of limitations.

"There is the-sooner-the-better factor," White Plains police Lt. Eric Fischer said of such cases. "The more time you give - especially involving a car accident - the car could be fixed, the car could be sold, the car could be destroyed. Like with any crime, if you lose time, you could lose the evidence."

Lucian Chalfen, spokesman for Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, said state law "is clear both regarding the timeliness of criminal prosecutions and the few exceptions to that law," but whether to pursue hit-and-run charges beyond the five-year window depends on the case.

Doing so after five years is difficult, experts say.

"Unless the facts would support it being an intentional act on the part of the driver, maybe then you could steer the charge in the direction of a charge that has no statute of limitation," such as murder, said Clinton Calhoun, a White Plains-based criminal defense attorney.

Prosecutors also could potentially buy time by arguing that police were aggressively searching for the alleged driver during that five-year period, experts say.

A spokesman for Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said that in the past 30 years, the office has not pursued a hit-and-run case after five years, but that doesn't rule it out in the future.

"People should not be able to avoid their dates with justice merely because they had the temerity to flee the scenes of their crimes," Zugibe said in a statement.

Sometimes solving a hit and run comes down to police getting a lucky break. Take the case of Harminder Singh, who was killed while jogging outside his home in Greenburgh on Jan. 14, 2008.

The next day, police were called to a home of an Elmsford man who complained that his neighbor, John D. Janusik, had rear-ended his vehicle. When police inspected Janusik's Ford truck, they noticed front-end damage and what appeared to be blood. Forensic evidence taken from the truck matched car debris found near Singh's body. Janusik ultimately pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of a fatality, both felonies, and was sentenced to serve 30 weekends in jail.

In contrast, this May will be five years since Jimmy McNicholas of Garnerville was struck and killed in Pearl River. On May 31, 2009, the 36-year-old bartender was walking to a deli when he was hit as he crossed a street around 1:15 a.m. The driver fled.

"It's pretty unbelievable that someone knows they did that and has to live with that every day," said his sister Kristen Glynn. "I want someone to take responsibility for it. It could (have been) that person's brother. I don't know how they can walk around and not think of that."

"It's troubling in that it's been open for so long, but we're not going to close it until we solve it," Brown said.

Lipscomb continues to live with permanent disabilities. Now 49, she still has limited movement on the right side of her body, uses a walker and relies on help from a home aide several times a week. Unable to work, she receives Social Security payments and Medicare.

"Every day I wake up, I am reminded I had this accident," she said. "I have to think about every move I make."